


make-believe

by Kanae



Category: Naruto
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, I'm haunted by what-ifs and so is Karin, Post-Gaiden
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:48:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21878497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kanae/pseuds/Kanae
Summary: “Hey, Sasuke,”He glances at her from the top of his tea mug, and Karin swallows to moisten her suddenly dry tongue.“Did you know that bastard Suigetsu thought you and I would get together?”
Relationships: Karin & Uchiha Sasuke, Karin/Uchiha Sasuke
Comments: 15
Kudos: 65





	make-believe

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted this on Tumblr on 2017, under the title "It could have been home".

“Hey, Sasuke,” 

He glances at her from the top of his tea mug, and Karin swallows to moisten her suddenly dry tongue. 

“Did you know that bastard Suigetsu thought you and I would get together?” 

She picks her best disbelieving tone, throws in an eye-roll for good measure. Pretends she isn’t watching his every move, sensing even the slightest shift of his chakra. 

There is none, not really. But Sasuke does arch an eyebrow a fraction, and Karin follows his clue to explain. 

“Juugo told me the other day. Seems like Suigetsu used to go on and on about it back when we were Taka.” 

Sasuke snorts, attention going back to his tea. “Don’t know where he got that idea from.” 

His reaction is just about what she expected, but it still stings to hear him say it. To hear Sasuke dismiss the thought of _them_ so easily; to know in no ambiguous terms that it never even crossed his mind. At all. 

Still, Karin knows better than to let the pang of hurt show; knows she’s supposed to snort in kind, cross her legs and take a sip of her own tea. So she does just that and throws him an airy, _“Right?” _

She plays her role and plays it well. Thinks the conversation is done; stores it away to mull over it when he isn’t around to see her ache. So when Sasuke leans back, the last thing Karin expects is what comes out of his mouth.

“You aren’t foolish enough to love someone who put you through the kind of things I did,” he states, plainly. Easily. There’s no room for doubt in his voice and demeanor, and _Karin_— 

Karin stills, eyes going wide. And it’s probably _that_—the surprise and the irony and the pride and the heartache—which makes the words slip through the cracks in her façade, slow and mirthless. 

“But what if I was?” 

Sasuke’s only visible eye turns on her, questioning. 

“I—I mean! Damn right I’m not, you bastard!” Karin hurries to say, crossing her arms over her chest and sticking her nose up in the air. “But—what if I _had_ loved you—which I obviously didn’t! Can you…” Her voice goes soft despite herself, her bravado deflating. “… Imagine us together?” 

Her question is met by silence, and it stretches between them until Karin’s skin prickles with the urge to look at Sasuke. But she can’t risk looking at him, not now; not feeling this vulnerable. 

Sasuke has always been blind, but Karin is sure even he would be able to read the feelings reflected on her eyes, now. 

And she can’t risk that. She can’t risk ruining this—_them_. Whatever is left of them.

Suddenly, Karin feels angry at herself. Why did she have to bring this up? Why now of all times? She blames Suigetsu, that annoying ass who _always_ knew what cards to play to get under her skin. But most of all— 

Most of all, she blames Juugo. Because he had looked at her with those gentle eyes of his and told her, _I thought you would, too_. And it had been a low blow. Had left Karin reeling, and wondering, just wondering, _if_— 

“… I guess so.”

The words startle Karin. Make her heart stop, her mind go numb with disbelief. 

“…Huh?” 

Sasuke just shrugs. “We’ve always been a good team.” 

_Ah_.

Of course. As always, he is just being practical. But Karin’s heart still picks up and she forces herself to look away from him again. To look down at her tea and focus her thoughts, control herself before she says—or _does_—something stupid. 

But try as she can, she can’t keep the words from flowing. 

“You’d still be traveling around like a hobo looking for leads about Kaguya, _obviously_,” she starts, lips quirking up when she feels the indignant look Sasuke throws her way. “I would’ve gone with you and helped you sort through the info, pick which clues were worth following and which were a load of hot air. Hell, I might've even saved you some time, since you wouldn’t have had to come here so often.”

“It would’ve been useful to have you around,” Sasuke agrees. And then he adds, almost like an afterthought. “You could’ve helped keep some unwanted people off my back.”

Karin snorts, “I was always good at that, wasn’t I?” Sasuke doesn’t bother to humor her cockiness, but his silence is all the agreement she needs. Karin savors the feeling—Sasuke’s acknowledgement, his respect. Knowing that even after all these years, Sasuke still found her worth having by his side.

But it isn’t long before it has gone bittersweet. The smiling face of a little girl slipping to the forefront of Karin’s mind, the living proof of why none of this make-believe could have ever been.

“…I wouldn’t have given you a kid, though.”

It’s Sasuke’s turn to look surprised. He probably didn’t expect Karin to take her little scenario this far, Karin knows. All she offers him as apology is a shrug of her shoulders. “I don’t think I’d have known how to be a good mom, or how to raise a good daughter.”

_‘Not like Sakura has_.’

She leaves it unsaid, but it rings loud and clear and true. And Sasuke must’ve heard it, too, because he looks back ahead, face unreadable.

‘_Way to rain on your parade, Karin_’.

But she guesses it’s for the best. Dreaming has never done her any good, so she has always preferred to keep her feet planted on the ground.

It’s with that thought in mind that she picks up her empty cup and makes it to get up.

But Sasuke takes her aback for the second time.

“That’s fine,” he must have seen the confusion in her eyes, because he explains, “I wouldn’t have known how to be a good father, either. I still don’t.”

While his voice is flat, his chakra is as expressive as always. It makes Karin’s eyes soften, her heart ache. “…You’re trying your best, Sasuke. I’m sure Sarada-chan thinks so, too.”

“I wonder about that.”

Before Karin can say anything, Sasuke adds, “We would’ve been too busy to play parents, anyway.” He flicks his gaze towards her own, eyes heavy with intent. “You and I.”

He is changing the subject, she knows. Building a barrier so she won’t breach his one vulnerability. For a moment, Karin wonders if she should stop him; wonders if she should push. But Sasuke is looking at her, wordlessly asking her to play along, and Karin decides to let it go.

If Sasuke wants to talk about it, he will do it when he's ready.

“Right,” she turns her look smug, her voice teasing. “But you’d still have doted on Naruto’s brat as if he were your own, just like you do now.”

As expected, Sasuke frowns. “… I don’t dote on Boruto.”

Karin almost laughs. The thought of Sasuke as the kid’s tsundere godfather is still hilarious to her, even more so because it never fails to piss Sasuke off. And it also makes an idea pop into her mind.

“Hell, you know what? We could’ve helped kids like us,” Karin announces, startling Sasuke with her sudden enthusiasm. “_War orphans_! Bring to Kabuto’s orphanage those we came across while traveling. They’d have grown up looking up to you, calling you _uncle Sasuke_,” she is all but snickering by now. “Heh, Suigetsu wouldn’t have let you live it down.”

Sasuke blinks, realization dawning in on his eyes. “Right. Suigetsu and Juugo would have been with us.”

“Pft, as if those two would miss the chance to hang all over you!”

“So I’d have had to keep you and Suigetsu from killing each other every day,” Sasuke sighs. “Sounds fun.”

Karin huffs, obstinately. “Not my fault that asshole never grows up! He’s thirty and still behaves like a damn kid. Who even _needs_ kids when you have him around?!”

Sasuke snorts. “Looks like things would’ve been lively.”

And with that said, Sasuke gets up from the chair and heads towards the sink; obviously done with the conversation.

But Karin finds that she isn’t quite ready to let it go. Not yet—not when the most important stone was still unturned.

“Hey, Sasuke?”

He gives the slightest of turns, only enough to show her he’s listening. So Karin readies herself, nails digging into her palms, and jumps.

“Would you’ve been happy? If we had lived our lives like that…”

Sasuke takes his time to answer, and Karin wonders if he’s imagining it—wonders if he finds it half as easy as she does.

“Hn. Who knows?” 

His words aren't much of a reply, but Karin can see the reflection of his face on the window, and what she finds in it both makes and breaks her.

“I see,” she mutters.

And her smile aches.

**Author's Note:**

> Any negative comments about SasuKarin will be deleted on sight.


End file.
